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Udaipur
revels in reputation of being once the capital of the Mewar
principality. It takes pride in being one of the few Rajput
states, which did not owe their allegiance to the Muslim
power in the name of realpolitik.
Mewar was the seat of the famous Sisodia Rajputs suzerains,
which makes the Mewar household the longest lasting of all
ruling powers in Rajasthan, and perhaps the oldest surviving
dynasty in the world.
When Udai Singh II ascended the throne of Mewar in 1537, it
was clear that the splendid for of Chittor was destined to
be doomed. Udai Singh looked for a suitable place for his
new capital and settled for the area around Lake Pichola,
protected on all sides by outcrops of the Aravalli Range. He
laid the foundation stones of the city in 1559. When Chittor
fell to the marauding armies of the Mughals, he shifted to
the new capital of Udaipur.
After his death in 1572 Udai was succeeded by his son Pratap,
a legendary hero whose refusal to submit to the Mughal
suzerainty led to the battle of Haldighati, which, though
indecisive, resulted in the great misery for Maharana Pratap.
With the passage of time, the city of Udaipur prospered in
all directions. It emerged as a great center of commerce and
arts. This finds expression in the famous miniature
paintings and the amazing palaces on the lake and its shore.
With the decline of the Mughals, Marathas became a dominat
power in India. They attacked Mewar in 1736 and as a result
the city was reduced to poverty and ruin. The British, whose
role in the East India Company had until then been purely
commercial, stepped in to pick up the pieces, presenting the
ruler of Mewar with a treaty of "perpetual alliance and
friendship" in 1818. Guaranteeing protection from invaders
and restoration of all its hereditary territories, this
treaty and the support of the British helped to put Udaipur
on the road to recovery. Yet Mewar never distanced itself
from its principle of not bowing down to a foreign power and
its rulers never allowed the British to interfere in the
internal affairs of the state.
After Indian Independence the maharana of Udaipur at the
forefront of a campaign by the princely states to join the
new democratic and independent India. |
